Initial reaction to Apple's iPhone 4S announcement was mixed, with some disappointed Apple didn't debut an iPhone 5 with LTE support, a bigger screen and other rumored advances (See our latest iPhone rumor roundup for all the latest speculation). But once observers settled down, excitement began to grow about new features such as a much better camera, a much faster processor and a new voice command technology dubbed Siri.

In addition to announcing its early iPhone 4S sales numbers, Apple said more than 25 million customers are already using its new iOS 5 software and that more than 20 million customers have signed up for its iCloud service.

iPhone 4S, which sells for $200 (16GB) to $400 (64GB) and requires a two-year rate plan, is available now in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K., and will be available in 22 more countries on Oct. 28 and more than 70 countries by the end of the year (Samsung is trying to block sales in Australia and Japan). AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless are all offering the iPhone 4S on their networks.

Bob Brown is a news editor for Network World, blogs about network research, and works most closely with our staff's wireless/mobile reporters. Follow him on Twitter at Alphadoggs and connect via email at bbrown@nww.com